Focus and Scope

Citizen Science: Theory and Practice (CSTP) is an online, open-access, peer-reviewed publication focused on the global field of citizen science and other participatory sciences. CSTP is an integral part of the Association for Advancing Participatory Sciences, is published by Ubiquity Press, and is supported by many volunteer contributors.

The journal seeks to advance the field by providing a central space for scholarly exchanges on public and community involvement in any scientifically driven investigation. CSTP journal articles center on theories and/or practices of citizen science and related endeavors. Scientific outcomes of citizen science efforts can be reported when knowing those outcomes helps to inform understanding of citizen science theory and/or practice. However, the journal is not a venue for reporting solely on scientific results from citizen science. Such manuscripts can be submitted to the Community Science journal and various disciplinary journals with authors encouraged to use the keyword “citizen science” (or a related term) to ensure the field receives recognition.

CSTP accepts several types of submission. See our Submission Guidelines for descriptions and maximum allowable word count.

Publication Frequency

CSTP currently publishes on a rolling basis, without embargo, throughout the year. Some articles are organized by theme within a special collection and follow a specific publication schedule. Please contact the Special Collections Associate Editor to discuss collection ideas (see the Ubiquity Press special collections policy and the collections section of the CSTP Author Guidelines for more information).

Open Access Policy

CSTP provides immediate and open access (no fees) to its content on the principle that making research freely available to its readership enhances global exchange of knowledge. There is no embargo on the journal articles. Submission, acceptance, and publication dates are available in the PDF format for each article.

Authors of published articles remain the copyright holders, and can grant third parties the right to use, reproduce, and share the article according to the Creative Commons license agreement.

Authors are encouraged to publish their data in recommended repositories. Please see this list for generic and subject-specific repositories that meet our peer review criteria.

Publication Fees and Waivers

The CSTP journal has a publication fee that authors are required to cover. This fee is detailed on our Submission Guidelines page (accessible in the pull-down menu under the “About” tab).

Journal Archiving

CSTP's publisher, ]u[ Ubiquity Press, focuses on making content discoverable and accessible through indexing services. Content is also archived around the world to ensure long-term availability.

CSTP is indexed by the following services:

To ensure permanency of all publications, CSTP also utilises CLOCKSS, and LOCKSS archiving systems to create permanent archives for the purposes of preservation and restoration.

If CSTP is not indexed by your preferred service, please let us know by emailing support@ubiquitypress.com or alternatively by making an indexing request directly with the service.

Journal Statistics

Core journal statistics for the 2023 volume:

Submissions received1	93
Reviews requested2	412
Reviews received3	207
Total Rejections4	61
...of which, Desk rejects5	37
Acceptances6	51
Acceptance rate7	46%
Time from submission to publication8	320 days

Definitions
¹Number of new articles received by the journal
²Number of peer review invitation emails that were sent out
³Number of completed peer review reports received
⁴Total number of articles rejected (including desk rejects)
⁵Number of articles rejected prior to peer review
⁶Number of articles that received a 'Accept for publication' decision
⁷Number of acceptances, as a percentage, against the total number of final decisions
⁸'Mean' average from submission to publication for all publications in the volume

Publication Ethics

Ubiquity Press, the journal’s publisher, is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics  (COPE), the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA), and the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP). The Press recognises its responsibility as a guardian of the scholarly record and takes an active role in establishing standards and policies in publication ethics.

The Editors have committed to maintaining high editorial standards through rigorous peer review and strict ethical policies. The Editors follow the COPE code of conduct and refer to COPE for guidance as appropriate. The journal and the publisher ensure that advertising and commercial interests do not impact or influence editorial decisions.

Advertisement Policy

The journal only displays advertisements that are of relevance to its scope and will be of interest to the readership (e.g., upcoming conferences). All advertising space is provided free of charge and the editor and publisher have the right to decline or withdraw adverts at any point.

If you wish to propose a potential advert then please contact the editorial team. All adverts are displayed in the right column of the journal and will need to fit a 120 pixel wide space. All advert images will have to be provided to the publisher.

Annotation and post-publication comment

The journal platform permits readers to leave comments and in-browser annotations via hypothes.is. Readers will require a hypothes.is account to create annotations, and will have the option to make these public or private. Comments may be moderated by the journal, however, if they are non-offensive and relevant to the publication subject, comments will remain online without edit.